New $100 Bill: Issue Date Set

After years of production problems, the new $100 bill finally has a date of issue. It will start circulating on October 8th. (See also: Video on How to Spot Counterfeits)

I wrote about the new $100 bill back in 2010 when the Federal Reserve first announced that it would start circulating early the following year. But then a problem with the paper creasing caused an unacceptable proportion of defective notes, and the release was delayed. Last week, the Federal Reserve announced that these problems have been solved, and announced the new release date.

I covered the new security features in considerable detail in my earlier post, but as security is of paramount importance in the $100, here's a quick rundown of the security features, new and old.

New Security Features

There are a lot of security features on the bill, but there are two obvious new ones.

3-D Security Ribbon

There's a broad blue band that runs down the middle of the note. It has images of bells that change to 100s and back, and move back and forth and up and down as the angle of the note changes.

Bell-in-the-Inkwell

Just to right of Franklin and the blue band, in the bottom half of the note, there's an image of a bell printed in color-shifting ink against a copper-colored background in the shape of an inkwell. Looked at head-on, the bell appears copper-colored and vanishes into the background. Shift the angle of the note and the color of the bell changes to green making it stand out against the background.

Old Security Features

The new $100 retains a number of the security features that the new U.S. currency has added over the past few years.

Portrait Watermark

Like all the bills larger than the $2, the new $100 has a watermark on the right-hand side. The watermark shows the same portrait as the face on the bill — in this case, Franklin. Hold the bill to the light to see it.

Security Thread

Like all the bills larger than the $2, there's a security thread. In the new $100 (like the old $100) it's to the left of the portrait and is printed with USA and 100. It glows pink when illuminated with UV light.

Color-Shifting 100

Like all the bills larger than the $5, the denomination in the lower-right corner is printed in color-shifting ink. Shift the angle of the bill to see the 100 change color from copper to green.

Raised Printing

Like all U.S. currency, the note is printed using a process called intaglio that leaves the ink on the surface of the paper, giving the note its distinctive texture.

Microprinting

Several places around the note there are words printed in letters too small to be reproduced by most copying technologies. Around Franklin's jacket collar it says "The United States of America."

Because those are the same as they were, you can go on following the same procedures to spot counterfeit money as before — you simply have the new security features as additional options.